Serik Abishev

Production

Serik Abishev

Born 1986-05-24 · Turkestan, Kazakhstan

Serik Abashev was born on May 24, 1986, in Turkestan into a family of doctors. He graduated with honors from Secondary School No. 128 with an emphasis on English language studies in Almaty. During his school years, he actively participated in organizing collective events and served as president of the school parliament. In 2004, he enrolled at the T. Zhurgenov Kazakh National Academy of Arts. In 2009, he graduated with honors, earning a degree in Film and Television Directing. That same year, he began working at the Shaken Aimanov Kazakhfilm Studio as an executive producer on the feature film “Realtor.” To date, he has produced more than seventeen feature-length films. As a film director, in 2016 he directed the feature films "Once Upon a Time in an Orphanage" and “Witness of Case No. 6” In 2015, he received a Master’s degree in Art Studies from the Kazakh National Academy of Arts. In 2017, he began his teaching career at Turan University. In 2022, he launched the course “Feature Film Directing.” In 2022, he defended his PhD degree in Art Studies with a specialization in Directing.

Acting credits

Behind the camera

Herd Immunity poster
4.8

Selkeu Uashev is a local police officer at Karatas village. He’s not a man of high morals and can hardly be called a role model as a policeman. He turns a deaf ear to lots of criminal offences and takes bribes. For that he’s loved a lot by local criminals and frauds. But one day the commission arrives from the city to declare the big audit all over the village due to pandemic…

Herd Immunity

2021

The Plague at the Karatas Village poster
8.2

A new mayor seeks the origins of a mysterious illness that is running rampant throughout a remote village.

The Plague at the Karatas Village

2016

Yellow Cat poster
6.0

Ex-con Kermek and his beloved Eva want to leave their crime-infested lives on the Kazakh steppes behind. He has a dream: building a movie theater in the mountains. Will Kermek's love of Alain Delon be strong enough to keep them out of the violent clutches of the mafia?

Yellow Cat

2020

Night God poster
NR

Two workers are having a leisurely conversation. More and more often people see in the sky red tails of comets, wonder creatures appear from nowhere and a roar is said to be coming from the underground. What is the meaning of it all? – asks one of them. The other replies that he has never seen anything like that in his life. And even if all of the above mentioned exists, is it worthwhile paying attention to it? The important thing is to do one’s job because life goes its own way.

Night God

2018

Atbai’s Fight poster
NR

The film tells the story of a street thug Atbai, who decides to take part in MMA tournament, where the winners are already decided. But Atbai is going to win, because for him this victory is a chance to start a new life: to return to big sports and to get his beloved woman back.

Atbai’s Fight

2019

The Assault poster
5.7

Masked figures with machine guns march into the secondary school in Karatas, take the pupils hostage, and execute one of them. They make no demands. Silent terror is their modus operandi. Seeing as the army will take two days to arrive due to a snowstorm, maths teacher Tazshi decides to assemble his own assault team: his ex-wife, the gym teacher, the cowardly school principal, an alcoholic night watchman, the village idiot, and an incompetent chief of police.

The Assault

2022

A Dark, Dark Man poster
6.5

A boy is murdered in Kazakh village. Detective Bekzat wants to wrap up the inquiries quickly: after all, the perpetrator has already been found by local police officers. But when a journalist arrives from the city, everything falls to pieces. For the first time in his career, Bekzat must conduct a real investigation according to procedure.

A Dark, Dark Man

2020

Holidays Offline poster
NR

Three friends open a camp for kids born in the city who do not know the traditions and customs of their ancestors.

Holidays Offline

2019

Ulbolsyn poster
7.0

Life in Karatas Village runs along an untroubled path, until its patriarchal way of life is challenged by Ulbolsyn, a woman whose coldblooded heart and blazing temperament are not afraid of setting everything on fire.

Ulbolsyn

2020

The Owners poster
5.4

25 year-old John, his teenage brother Erbol, and their sickly 12 year-old sister Aliya, are forced to leave their house in the Kazakh city of Almaty. By luck their mother left them a house in a remote village, where they plan to prepare their comeback. But the house appears to be on the wish list of the District Officer’s alcoholic brother, who has lived there illegally for 10 years.

The Owners

2014

The Gentle Indifference of the World poster
5.2

After her father's untimely death, Saltanat is forced to trade her idyllic countryside life for the cruel city. She has to find money to pay off the large family debt that her father left behind, in order to save her mother from jail. Friends since their village childhood, her loyal, but penniless admirer Kuandyk follows her just to make sure his sweetheart is safe. Saltanat's uncle introduces her to a possible groom, who promises to pay off her family's debts. But Saltanat's hopes are dashed, when she discovers that the men in this city don't keep their word. When Kuandyk tries to help Saltanat get the money through other ways, he ends up finding himself in more trouble than he bargained for. Although life keeps dealing them bad hands, Saltanat and Kuandyk never give up, no matter what the odds.

The Gentle Indifference of the World

2018

Ademoka’s Education poster
6.3

Ademoka is a headstrong and gifted 15-year-old girl whose big dream is to study. Her status as Lyuli an illegal immigrant from Tajikistan is a serious obstacle to this. She is exploited by her extended family and forced to beg on the streets, she manages to free herself from the family, when they get deported she has to choose between family and education. She gets helped on the way by some oddball characters, who come to her aid against the corrupt system and the patriarchal family.

Ademoka’s Education

2022

City Filth poster
NR

Driven by the pain of losing a loved one, not to mention the all-pervasive injustice and abuse of power that surrounds him, a lone individual resorts to vigilante justice.

City Filth

2017

Goliath poster
1.0

The Kazakh village Karatas has long been subjugated by a criminal boss called Poshaev. He provides housing and jobs for the locals but will ruthlessly execute anyone who dares to oppose him. This is the lesson the pauper Arzu is about to learn first-hand—his wife Karina has informed the police about the crimes that are taking place there. Arzu is a cripple; now he must raise his little daughter alone. He is so helpless and grief-stricken that he doesn’t even seem to be contemplating revenge. Poshaev takes him under his wing and offers him the position of a guard at a building site. Soon Arzu has a chance to prove his loyalty, and he becomes Poshaev’s right hand. But where do Arzu’s real loyalties lie—with his boss or with the idea of justice?

Goliath

2022

The Story of Kazakh Cinema – Underground of Kazakhfilm poster
NR

A film director and an actor have worked till midnight at a film studio. A security guy locked all doors and so now our heroes have to look for an exit, walking through the studio and meeting various people on their way – famous Kazakh film directors, film critics and just strangers.

The Story of Kazakh Cinema – Underground of Kazakhfilm

2015

No artwork available
NR

At night in Shymkent, a drunk driver knocks down three pedestrians to death. The driver turned out to be the son of an influential businessman who wants to avoid punishment by giving a bribe to witnesses. Two agree, except for one - a young student who refuses to keep silent for money and demands to transfer the case to the prosecutor. How will the student manifest himself when all the other witnesses have agreed to remain silent - will he remain true to his principles or, like everyone else, will he take the money?

Witness of Case No. 6

2015

The Constructors poster
NR

Two brothers and their little sister are thrown out of their flat because they haven't paid the rent. The orphans pack up their few possessions and go out to the country, where the family owns a small plot of land. The children set up camp, knowing they have to fend for themselves. But this solution is insecure, too: they are told, in no uncertain terms, that all plots will shortly pass to the state unless at least the foundations of a house have been laid. The threesome get down to work, making night-time visits to neighboring sites to 'borrow' tools and materials, then building by day. But no sooner are the foundation walls complete than an unsympathetic policeman ad...

The Constructors

2013

Bakhytzhamal poster
NR

Short course work by Adilkhan Erzhanov

Bakhytzhamal

2007

Once Upon a Time in an Orphanage poster
NR

The plot of the film is based on real events that took place in Orphanage No. 4. A Korean plane crashed on the territory of Kazakhstan, and four Korean children ended up in a Kazakh orphanage.

Once Upon a Time in an Orphanage

2016